Bob Carter named New Zealand assistant coach

The Canterbury coach Bob Carter has been named an assistant to New Zealand's new head coach Mike Hesson and will join the side for the upcoming tour of India. It will be Carter's second stint as an assistant with the national team, after he worked under John Bracewell for four years until 2008.

Carter, 52, is a former first-class cricketer who played for Northamptonshire and then moved to New Zealand in the early 1980s to play for Canterbury. He coached Northamptonshire in the late 1990s and since 2008 has been in charge of Canterbury, steering them to the Plunket Shield title in 2010-11.

"Bob brings a wealth of experience to the role having coached with Northamptonshire, Canterbury and with the Black Caps and will provide valuable support to head coach, Mike Hesson, and captain, Ross Taylor," John Buchanan, New Zealand Cricket's director of cricket, said. "He will help provide the right balance within the coaching group and complements the skill-set of the rest of the unit.

"Bob is excited about the opportunity to coach at international level again and is looking forward to the responsibility and the challenge of working with the Black Caps."

Carter's responsibilities with the New Zealand batsmen will be all the more important after their disappointing tour of the West Indies, and their lack of centuries remains an issue. The departing head coach John Wright said the batsmen needed to be more accountable for their on-field decisions, but Carter said he felt there was plenty of talent to work with in his new role.

"Good players don't become bad players overnight," Carter told Fairfax NZ. "The [national] side has some very fine players and I'm excited about the opportunity to work with them. And I believe I can add something working with Mike. I'm really excited about it."